Thierry Henry: This is why Liverpool are serious title challengers

Thierry Henry is convinced that Liverpool can challenge for the Premier League title this season.

The Merseysiders begin their league campaign on Sunday when they travel to Emirates Stadium to face a weakened Arsenal team.

Liverpool have had mixed results in pre-season but demonstrated their potential when they demolished Barcelona 4-0 in a glamour friendly at Wembley last Sunday.

Jurgen Klopp’s team were then thrashed by his former club Mainz 24 hours later but Henry believes he has seen enough from the 18-times league winners to conclude they can challenge for the title.

“It’s clear from Liverpool’s pre-season games that they already have much more of a Jurgen Klopp touch about them,” Henry wrote in a column for the Sun. “Just watching them against Barcelona last week left me exhausted.

“I was very impressed by their intensity, desire and togetherness, the way they run and work for each other, fight for the ball and force mistakes.

“And because they don’t have any European commitments this season, I believe they will make a serious title challenge.”

Liverpool finished a lowly eighth in the league last season, which was partly due to an exhausting schedule dominated by cup clashes.

Klopp’s side lost the League Cup final on penalties to Manchester City and were defeated by Seville in the Europa League final.